The present invention relates generally to edge card connectors, and more particularly to an edge card connector having an improved latch/eject mechanism which is limited in the extent of its rotation during ejection of the edge card.
Circuit, or edge card, connectors have been developed for computers to provide for a connection between a main computer printed circuit board, commonly referred to in the art as a "mother board" board and secondary electronic circuits contained on smaller printed commonly referred to as "daughter" boards. These secondary circuits may be added to computers or similar electronic devices after the initial manufacture thereof to improve the performance thereof. They may be added by either a professional computer technician or a relatively unskilled computer user.
Space on the mother board on computers, as in most electronic devices, is at a premium. Consumers prefer more compact styles of electronic devise and hence, the closer that assembly components, such as daughter boards, may be spaced together on the mother board, the more compact the overall device may become.
There are a number of different known designs for connectors which are intended for permanent installation on the mother board. The connectors receive a daughter board and provide a connection between the circuitry on both of the mother board and the daughter boards. Daughter boards are often descriptively referred to in the art as "edge cards" because, one edge of the card contains a plurality of contacts which extend laterally along that edge. The edge containing these contacts is inserted into a slot of a connector. The connector slot includes a plurality contacts arranged in opposition to the edge card contacts portions. The connector contacts often extend downwardly from the connector slot through the connector body and typically terminate in tail portions which are aligned with a series of openings or penetrations on the mother board. The tails project into these openings and are soldered thereto to form an electrically conductive connection between the mother board and the edge card connector. It is also known to mount the tails to the surface of the board.
Edge card connectors are well known in the art. Some of these connectors include mechanisms which latch, or secure, the edge card in place within the connector after insertion thereof, others include mechanisms which permit the user to eject the edge card from the connector slot after insertion and still others include mechanisms which include mechanisms which perform both of the latch and eject functions. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,990,097, issued Feb. 5, 1991, describes an edge card connector having a card eject mechanism in which a vertically moveable member is positioned at the end of the card slot to enable a user to remove the edge card from the connector slot. However, in the act of removing an edge card from this style of connector, the user may apply too strong of a vertical uplift force on the end of the member which may be transferred to the connector and ultimately to the soldered joints near the eject mechanism. Additionally, the vertical member only reciprocates vertically and hence denies the use of a mechanical advantage obtained by using lever to eject the edge card.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,211,568, issued May 18, 1993 to the assignee of the present application, describes an eject latch/eject mechanism which is rotatably mounted to one end of the connector. The latch/eject member rotates inwardly when an edge card is inserted into the connector card slot. To partially eject one end of the edge card from the connector card slot, force is applied to the end of the latch/eject member to rotate it outwardly.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,108,298, issued Apr. 28, 1992, also to the assignee of the present invention describes a rotatable latch-eject lever which is press-fit into the connector housing. The lever is intricately formed and includes a structure that interacts with an end portion of the housing to limit rotation of the latch. Such latch may be operated by the user in a manner so as to remove it from its press-fit within the connector housing.
Accordingly, a need for an edge card connector having a latch-eject mechanism exists wherein the amount of rotation required for ejection of the edge card is limited, thereby permitting components to be placed closer to the ends of the connector.